AutopaR: An Automatic Parallelization Tool for Recursive Calls

Manycore systems are becoming more and more powerful with the integration of hundreds of cores on a single chip. However, writing parallel programs on these manycore systems has become a problem since the amount of available parallel tools and applications are limited. Although exploiting parallelism in software is possible, it requires different design decisions, significant programmer effort and is error prone. Different libraries and tools try to make the transition to parallelism easier, however there is no concrete system to make it transparent to software developer. To this end, our proposed tool is a step forward to improve the current state. Our approach, Autopar, specifically aims at achieving automatic parallelization of recursive applications using static program analysis. It first decides on the recursive functions of a given program. Then, it performs analysis and collects information about these recursive functions. Our analysis module automatically collects program information without requiring any modification in the program design or developer involvement. Finally, it achieves automatic parallelization by introducing necessary OpenMP pragmas in appropriate places in the application. © 2014 IEEE

Decision support for adopting SPLE with transit-PL

It is generally acknowledged that the decision to adopt a software product line engineering (SPLE) approach needs to be performed carefully due to the di• erent risks involved in taking such an important decision. To mitigate the potential risks of the transition to SPLE, several studies have been proposed that include many di• erent rules for analyzing the feasibility of the SPLE adoption and the selection of transition process. However, it is not easy to apply these manually and likewise provide a proper decision with the corresponding justification. In this paper, we propose the tool Transit-PL, a web based decision support system for analyzing the feasibility of SPLE for an organization and selecting the appropriate transition strategy. Transit-PL provides a framework to build particular decision support system for selected strategies using di• erent types of questions and corresponding rules and set of answers. Copyright 2013 ACM

Risk factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Turkey - an epidemiological survey of the anatolian society of medical oncology

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare disease in most parts of the world with a multifactorial etiology involving an interaction of genetic, viral, environmental and dietary risk factors. This is the first epidemiologic study aimed to evaluate the risk factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the Turkish population. Methods: We conducted a multicentric, retrospective, case-control study using a standardized questionnaire which captured age, sex, occupation, household type, blood group, dietary habits, smoking, alcohol consumption and oral hygiene. The study included 183 cases and 183 healthy controls matched by sex and age. Multiple logistic regression and univariate analysis were employed. Results: The peak age incidence was 40-50 years and the male to female ratio was 2:1. We observed significant associations between elevated nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk and low socioeconomic status, rural household type (OR:3.95, p0.05); furthermore salty foods had a borderline p value (OR:2.14, p=0.053). Blood type A increased the risk (OR:2.03, p=0.002) while blood type 0 was a protective factor (OR:0.53, p=0.009). Rare habit of teeth brushing (OR:6.17, p<0.001) and ≥10 decayed teeth before diagnosis (OR:2.17, p<0.001) increased the risk. Conclusions: The nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk factors described in the literature are also applicable for the Turkish population. People with type A blood are at risk in Turkey. Salted foods have also a border risk out of the endemic regions. This is the only study showing that poor oral hygene is a serious risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

TRP genes family expression in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Different factors are responsible for the development of CRC. Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) which is an important component of calcium channel is associated with several pathological conditions like cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Thirty members of the family of TRP ion channel in mammals have been determined till now. The aim of this study is to investigate TRPM, TRPV and TRPC gene expression levels in tumor tissues of CRC patients and to analyze the relationship of expression in tumor tissue of CRC with other known prognostic factors. Material and Methods: In this study, 93 CRC patients were included. The level of TRP gene expression in paraffin blocks of normal and cancerous colorectal tissue samples were studied at the level of mRNA with Real-time PCR. Results: The mRNA expression level of TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 genes in 37 female and 56 male patients diagnosed with CRC was revealed lower in tumor tissue as compared to normal tissue (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences of mRNA expression levels of other TRP genes were found. Conclusions: TRP gene family like TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 may be thought as potential genes contributing to tumorigenesis as their expression decreases in CRC as compared to normal tissues. Key Words: colorectal cancer, TRP genes family: TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4, TRPC6, mRNA expression

Empirical Evaluation of a Decision Support Model for Adopting Software Product Line Engineering

Context The software product line engineering (SPLE) community has provided several different approaches for assessing the feasibility of SPLE adoption and selecting transition strategies. These approaches usually include many rules and guidelines which are very often implicit or scattered over different publications. Hence, for the practitioners it is not always easy to select and use these rules to support the decision making process. Even in case the rules are known, the lack of automated support for storing and executing the rules seriously impedes the decision making process. Objective We aim to evaluate the impact of a decision support system (DSS) on decision-making in SPLE adoption. In alignment with this goal, we provide a decision support model (DSM) and the corresponding DSS. Method First, we apply a systematic literature review (SLR) on the existing primary studies that discuss and present approaches for analyzing the feasibility of SPLE adoption and transition strategies. Second, based on the data extraction and synthesis activities of the SLR, the required questions and rules are derived and implemented in the DSS. Third, for validation of the approach we conduct multiple case studies. Results In the course of the SLR, 31 primary studies were identified from which we could construct 25 aspects, 39 questions and 312 rules. We have developed the DSS tool Transit-PL that embodies these elements. Conclusions The multiple case study validation showed that the adoption of the developed DSS tool is justified to support the decision making process in SPLE adoptio

Effect of lawsonia inermis treatment on mice with sarcoma

Lawsonia inermis commonly is used as cosmetic material. However many studies had shown that L. inermis had antitumoural, antimicrobial and anti-tuberculostatic effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether L. inermis can destroy cancer cells by induction of apoptosis due to decreasing of intracellular H+ ion level or increasing intracellular free radicals and H2O2 levels in cancer cells as a result of oxidative effect or not. We used 70 female Swiss albino mice and divided them into four groups. Group 1 was given only tap water. Group 2 was given only L. inermis. Group 3 was given Ehrlich ascites tumour (EAT) cells + tap water and Group 4 was given EAT + L. inermis. At the result of this study the thickness of subcutaneous lipid tissue, diameters of gluteal mass, the pH levels of gluteal mass, the GSH levels at the liver tissue samples and the MDA levels of the liver tissue samples of these groups were measured. This study showed that, L. inermis can be used as a supplementary agent for cancer treatment. © 2008 Academic Journals

Antitumoral effect of L. inermis in mice with EAC

In recent years, prophylactic usage of natural products and tendency to resort to alternative medicine has increased rapidly. Henna (Lawsonia sp.) has been used not only cosmetically but also medicinally in Turkish population. Among the studies of henna's antifungal, anti-microbial, tuberculostatic and antitumoral effects come on the science. In this study, we planned to research the effect of Lawsonia inermis that is an oxidant agent against development of cancer, by constituting peritonitis carcinomatous with Ehrlich ascites cells. The animals were divided to three groups and Law son ia inermis extract and tap water were given to mice for 5 days. After 5 days, all of animals were decapitated by cervical dislocation and their liver tissues were sampled to measure reduced glutathione (GSH) level. Mean Survival Time (MST) and Average Survival Time (AST) were calculated; peritoneal liquid pH was measured; Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) cells were counted with hemocytorneter. At the result, the longest life period was detected on the group which was given 10 mg/kg/day Lawsonia inermis. In group 2 and 3 which were given Lawsonia inermis following to forming Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, total number of cancer cell decreased. The scaled pH levels belonging to group 2 and 3 changed into alkaline compared to that of group 1 (pH = 6.2). Glutathione levels of liver tissue were determined to decrease in group 2 and 3 in comparison with groupl. In conclusion, Lawsonia inermis may lead cells to apoptosis related to deficiency in detoxification of intracellular radicals. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information

TRP GENES FAMILY EXPRESSION IN COLORECTAL CANCER

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Different factors are responsible for the development of CRC. Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) which is an important component of calcium channel is associated with several pathological conditions like cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Thirty members of the family of TRP ion channel in mammals have been determined till now. The aim of this study is to investigate TRPM, TRPV and TRPC gene expression levels in tumor tissues of CRC patients and to analyze the relationship of expression in tumor tissue of CRC with other known prognostic factors. Material and Methods: In this study, 93 CRC patients were included. The level of TRP gene expression in paraffin blocks of normal and cancerous colorectal tissue samples were studied at the level of mRNA with Real-time PCR. Results: The mRNA expression level of TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 genes in 37 female and 56 male patients diagnosed with CRC was revealed lower in tumor tissue as compared to normal tissue (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences of mRNA expression levels of other TRP genes were found. Conclusions: TRP gene family like TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 may be thought as potential genes contributing to tumorigenesis as their expression decreases in CRC as compared to normal tissues. Key Words: colorectal cancer, TRP genes family: TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4, TRPC6, mRNA expression